Hornblow, Leonora 1920–2005
Hornblow, Leonora 1920–2005
(Leonora Schinasi Hornblow)
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born 1920, in New York, NY; died November 5, 2005, in Fearrington Village, NC. Author. Hornblow was the author of two successful novels for adults, as well as a series of nonfiction works for children that she wrote with husband and film producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. The daughter of a tobacco magnate named Leon Schinasi, she grew up enjoying a life of privilege. At age eighteen, she married actor Wayne Morris, with whom she had a child, but the union ended in divorce after just one year. She married Hornblow in 1945, and quickly became acquainted with many Hollywood personalities. This experience was used to as background material for her first novel, Memory and Desire (1950), which earned positive reviews. Her second novel, The Love-Seekers (1957), also did well, though not as well as her debut. After coediting a collection of short stories, the remainder of Hornblow's books were all nonfiction for children. She collaborated on these with her husband, producing six books that include Birds Do the Strangest Things (1965), Insects Do the Strangest Things (1968), and Animals Do the Strangest Things (1989).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Guardian (London, England), November 16, 2005, p. 37.
Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2005, p. B11.